Sandra Lee has dropped her alliance with TV Guide and broken away to form her own publishing company, Simply Living Publishing.

Last fall, as her one-year contract with TV Guide and its owner, Open Gate Capital, was winding down, TV Guide’s then-CEO Jack Kliger was optimistic that a deal would be hammered out. And he insisted that any potential presidential political interests by Lee’s romantic interest, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, would have no bearing on the food, recipes and lifestyle magazine.

In fact, sources say that the hurdle may have been Kliger’s push to get a minority financial stake in the venture — and Lee’s pushback to stay completely independent.

Kliger exited TV Guide last week, insisting that the split between himself and Open Gate/TV Guide was amicable and that he wanted to develop entrepreneurial businesses. But one deal that was already sitting on his desk never got done.

Back in October, when questioned on the negotiations with Lee, he said, “Everything we wanted to do is done.” The expectation was that a deal was imminent.

One source said that Kliger’s negotiation tactics are what caused the talks to break off. “Jack was the impediment,” said one source. “They could just not come to terms.”

Lee was able to walk away in large part because she has a lucrative cross-marketing deal with Liberty Media subsidiary Evite, the party-hosting site.

Evite has signed a long-term advertising deal with the company, said to be worth more than $10 million. It also involves cross-promoting Lee on the site and having her plug Evite mentions into articles.

Andrew Nikou, who famously purchased TV Guide for $1, now insists that he never expected the Lee deal to be a long-term one for the company, despite its avowed interest in expanding through deals and publishing partnerships.

And an Open Gate spokeswoman insisted that Kliger’s departure last week and Lee’s decision to go it alone were not related.

“Sandra Lee going to a different place and Jack’s departure have absolutely nothing to do with one another. They are two separate events,” said the spokeswoman.

Lee herself could not be reached. The last TV Guide-produced issue was March/April.